


Day 283

by Josh_the_Bard



Series: A Year in Kirkwall [283]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:09:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26937922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Josh_the_Bard/pseuds/Josh_the_Bard
Series: A Year in Kirkwall [283]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589257
Kudos: 1





	Day 283

Grace hurried through the hallways, trailing after a very nervous Keran. The young templar was practically beside himself with worry. He had been guarding the workers extending the barracks when one of them had tried to warn him of Thrask’s attempt to have them add a way for them to pass notes and items between the barracks and the gardens.

Grace didn’t know what the point of it was. They had a perfectly serviceable dead drop in the library and now their entire organization was compromised. Keran had stashed the worker in an empty room while and was leading Grace there now. He didn’t say as much, a ‘nice boy’ like him never would, but there were only two solutions to this problem. They could kill the man, messy and would lead to more questions, or they could make him forget the entire thing with blood magic.

Fortunately, Grace didn’t need to cut herself to access her blood right now or else she would have told the templars to solve their own blighted problems. Grace had managed almost two years on the run before being caught, along with most of the other Starkhaven mages, and then had managed to avoid Meredith’s attention for two more years in the Circle. Now that Thrask and his templars were taking a more active role in their group everything was going to shit. Thrask was dogshit as being subtle and would have to be reined in if she was to have a chance at vengeance.

Keran opened the door to the room where the worker was being kept, and Grace slipped inside. Keran would guard the door until she had finished what she had to do, though it would not due to let the man’s screams echo.

“You’re not a templar,” the worker said, leaping suddenly to his feet. He tried to back away from Grace but there was nowhere to go.

Grace led with a mind blast that stunned the man before he could call for help, then layered a sleep spell over him to keep him quiet long enough for her to do her work. Grace drew as much blood as she could from her womb and began to weaver her spell. Burning blood for power, the way you would lyrium was simple, the first thing you learned as a blood mage. But using that blood to pull on the mind of another, that was where the mastery and artistry came. That was the domain of demons and those few elite mages of which Grace was a member.

The first thing she did was search the man’s mind for the memories of Thrask and the secret plot to change the design of the barracks. That was easy, people forgot most of the things that happened to them anyway, all she had to do was shake it loose. Next was the complex part, the part that was more for her own satisfaction. There was no guarantee that this man, Gomes she learned from his mind, would not turn on them again, so Grace made sure.

One would think that one simple command nested into a brain would be simpler than taking control completely, but one would be wrong. It was the difference between taking the reins of a horse and whispering in its ear to take the first left.

When she was done, Gomes stumbled out of the room rather confusedly and returned to work. It would have been too suspicious otherwise. He might rediscover their plan, but when he left tonight he would take care of himself.

“It’s done?” Keran asked. The boy squirmed in his armor. He was one to watch, he didn’t have the stomach to do what needed to be done, not yet anyway. If she revealed too much or pushed too quickly, he could become a problem.

“He doesn't remember anything we don’t want him to,” she replied. Without waiting for Keran’s reaction, she went back to her work in the library.


End file.
